The kidneys are one of the most important organs in your body.They are essential for filtering the blood and maintaining it stable, preventing a buildup of excess fluids and waste products, regulating the blood pressure, balancing the electrolyte levels, promoting a red blood cell production, as well as keeping the bones strong and healthy.
A compromised kidney function has a negative effect on your overall health, which is why it is extremely important to recognize the warning signs of kidney damage.
Kidney Damage
Here are the most common symptoms which indicate that your kidneys are being damaged.
Upper Back Pain
If you suffer from kidney damage, you are likely to experience pain in your upper back. The kidney pain is usually one-sided ache in your upper back, commonly accompanied by urinary changes and fever.
In case you are dealing with spasms and severe pain, you could be suffering from some kidney infection or kidney stones.
Skin Rash
A kidney failure is often characterized by an appearance of skin rash or severe itching. If your kidneys are unable to remove the waste products from your blood, the waste accumulation can cause dryness and irritation on your skin.
If the occurrence of skin rash is related to kidney damage, you wouldn’t be able to treat it with any ointments and creams.
Swelling
An occurrence of unexpected swelling can be a symptom of kidney failure.When your kidneys are not working properly, they are unable to remove the excess fluids from your body, which can lead to swelling in your face, hands, legs, ankles, and feet.
Fatigue
If your kidneys are healthy, there is a proper production of erythropoietin, or EPO, a hormone responsible for encouraging the bone marrow to make new red blood cells which carry oxygen.
However, damaged kidneys fail to produce a sufficient amount of EPO, resulting in a lack of a new supply of red blood cells and oxygen in the body.
When this happens, your brain and muscles became easily fatigued,and your body is more tired, cold, and less able to focus. The shortage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells commonly leads to anemia.
Shortness of Breath
When you suffer from kidney damage, your body is commonly starved of oxygen. The lack of oxygen that is carried by the red blood cells leads to shortness of breath which is caused by an accumulation of fluids and waste products in the lungs.
Changes in Urination
The occurrence of changes in urination is one of the early warning signs of kidney failure.
These changes include an appearance of foamy urine, urine containing blood, increased frequency of urination with pale urine, reduced frequency of urination with dark colored urine, urinating in the middle of the night, or difficulty urinating.
Metallic Taste in Your Mouth
A loss of appetite or a change in your food preferences can occur as a result of a waste accumulation in your blood. This is one of the most common symptoms of kidney damage.
